Here's what your elected officials are saying about a scathing audit of the VA in Philadelphia

Paul Muschick

Audit blasts VA center in Philly

The Lehigh Valley's elected officials in Washington are responding to Wednesday's blistering audit of the VA benefits center in Philadelphia by calling for reforms and vowing to hold the agency accountable.

Here are excerpts from statements they issued:

Rep. Charlie Dent:

"This report affirms the reprehensible and utterly disturbing allegations that have clearly plagued the Philadelphia VARO for far too long."

"The VA Office of Inspector General's findings read like a case-study of what not to do when it comes to providing essential services to our veterans, maintaining the trust of the public, and creating an environment that deals with its problems proactively and transparently."

“This report indicates that the Philly VA Regional Office, one of the largest veterans claims offices in the nation, was altering and hiding documents that resulted in longer waits for veterans’ claims. It highlights the toxic culture of mismanagement within the office, where staff were pressured to alter long-overdue claim dates to stay in compliance and were afraid to come forward to report problems."

"The findings of this report are unbefitting of any federal agency, let alone one tasked with providing benefits and assistance to our nation’s veterans and their families. While these disturbing revelations hit close to home for my district and local veterans, this report is equally an indictment of the VA system nationwide which is finally under the scrutiny it deserves."

"No doubt there are those inside the VA, including the Philadelphia VARO, who seek to serve our veterans faithfully. Unfortunately, their good works are outweighed by employees and managers more concerned about meeting bureaucratic benchmarks and collecting undeserved bonuses than meeting the challenges facing them."

“Revelations of this nature, while not new, have lost none of their outrageousness from when we first heard them. The debt of honor we owe our veterans demands that we rectify these concerns in as swift and severe a manner as necessary.”